iTunes: The Add-ons You May Have Missed

iTunes is one of my most used apps. However, there are many times when I wish that it had x feature added in or y feature from the start. The sad truth is that iTunes doesn’t come with every wanted feature. There are so many apps and addons that center around iTunes that it can be daunting to sift out the gold. After trying many of them, I found the addons that worked the best, the addons that were the quickest, and the most functional. Here are some iTunes plugins that really do help out.

ByteController is a freeware alternative to the popular Synergy. It sits in your menu bar - it can run in the background and if you opt, only show itself when iTunes is open. It has a simple interface with 3 controls: Play/Pause, Beginning of Track/Back One Track, and Skip +5 Seconds in Current Track/Skip to Next Track. The buttons are skinable, and the user can define hotkeys to eliminate mouse usage whatsoever. While it may lack some of the features of Synergy, it acts simply as an iTunes controller and does it well. Many of the apps that will follow will make-up for some of the missing features from Synergy.

iEatBrainz is a popular application that will fix your ID3 tags by creating an acoustic finger print and matching it to a database to get the correct album, artist, and track information. While you could do it manually, it can be pretty tedious to attempt if you have a lot to clean up. I know this article is titled, add-ons you’ve missed, but having correct ID3 tags is key to making the rest of these applications work properly.

Growl is a freeware system notification tool that is not relegated to just iTunes. It is very customizable through the add-on scripts that are available through the developer. Synergy offers notification integration with iTunes, but lacks support for other apps (such as Safari, Mail, Adium, Vienna, etc. - which is quite handy). The notification windows will pop-up for a user defined length of time and if the user opts, can email or speak the contents aloud. With the growlTunes integration, the window will show track information including title, album, artist, length, star rating, and (if available) album art.

Clutter is a freeware app that can display album art and track info on your desktop, much like the notification information that Growl displays. I prefer the way Growl handles this task, but I was easily smitten with the ease of use of the application for tracking down album art. Personally, the way iTunes handles album art since 7.0 isn’t ideal, but being able to bind the album art to the ID3 tag info is nice and that is where Clutter shines. It connects with Amazon, and as long as your ID3 tag is somewhat correct (see why I listed iEatBrainz first?), it will find the appropriate album art. The user may then apply it to the current track or album and have a nice piece of album art displayed when Growl notifies them of a track change, or when using Front Row, or the new Apple TV.

iConcertCal is a free plug-in that analyzes the artists in your iTunes library and looks for concerts in your area. It interfaces with Jambase, so it should work for a user anywhere in the world. Very cool. Music should lead to a chance to connect with others, not just leave one isolated with iPod buds in their ears.

The Filter is a project that recently moved to the Beta stage. The project is very intriguing and extremely useful to anyone with a sizable library. I have a library of over 7,000 tracks, which amounts to 16.5 days worth of music without hearing a repeat. It is ideal for those moments where you’re feeling relaxed while listening to some mellow Explosions in the Sky track, and then it’s ruined by the next song shuffle to a classical symphony. Enter The Filter - you select 3 songs, it analyzes your library, and Filter finds other songs in your library that fit along with the 3 you chose. This creates a new playlist (if your ID3 tag information is correct), and keeps adding to it as you get through your initial tracks. The user may choose to base the similarities on the artist, genre, or individual song. There are so many tracks that I have missed, or have forgotten about, that The Filter has brought to my attention.

JewelCase serves no purpose but to look pretty, albeit it does that very well. It’s a visualization that will take whatever song is playing, the album art you have saved (see? I told you that using Clutter is nice) and recreates a gorgeous jewel CD case with all the songs on that album that you have in your library.

Volume Logic is nothing new, but newly updated for iTunes 7.0 as it is just out of beta. It manages the equalizer better than I ever could dream and balances out the loudness between tracks better than iTunes does on it’s own. It can also take into account your speaker types and genre of music. The difference between using the equalizer built into iTunes and Volume Logic is night and day. Anyone with a nice speaker set: you’re missing out on so much that you don’t even realize. Try it and hear for yourself.

As you can see, most of these apps build upon one another to enrich your iTunes experience. Once you get your ID3 tags in order, and get your album art collected, keep up with it as you expand your library to save yourself the trouble of doing it all over again. I’m always finding new ways to enjoy my music, and if I have happened to miss any of your favorites, please feel free to share in the comments.